Christian Democrat

One of the candidates for County Commissioner in Stokes County, Robert Nickell, has put signs up already. They look to be homemade and they are huge. I may have miscounted, but I don't think the Democrats have a primary yet (one more day to file). I can't think of a single thing that more consistently irritates the electorate than having to look at the same political signs, day in and day out as they fall into decrepitude.

Mr. Nickell has advertised himself as a "Christian Democrat." I wasn't aware that we had a Christian Democrat party in the US. The European Christian Democrats tend to be centrist or slightly right-of-center. Keep in mind that centrist in European terms puts them well over to the left on the American scale. I believe the defining feature of the Christian Democrats in Europe was the desire to control the church through government. I'm not sure that they still believe that. I know that the Ulster Christian Democrats want all ecclesiastical appointments made within the church to be approved by the legislature. In Africa, the Christian Democrats tend to be socially conservative authoritarians. For a parallel, imagine what it would be like if Pat Robertson was declared an unequivocal and supreme monarch.

Mr. Nickell is also using a catchy little phrase about putting "cents" back in government. Well, not really that catchy since I've seen it every day for two weeks and I can't remember it. I'm not sure what he intended, but he could have achieved the same effect if he had just written, "Elect me and I'll raise your taxes" on his sign. Given the slate of candidates in Stokes County, this election cycle may turn out to be very amusing...

...in a twisted and demented sort of way.